The Court of Appeal sitting in Asaba, Delta State on Monday restricted the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to only federal roads.
The appellate court delivered the judgment on Monday in Appeal No: CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC and Darlington Ugo Ehikim.
The court dismissed the appeal filed by the FRSC challenging the judgment of the Federal High Court, Warri, Delta State delivered by Justice E. Nwite which banned the commission from state and local governments’ roads.
The Federal High Court had on January 12, 2019 entered judgement in favour of the plaintiff, who is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Warri and granted all the reliefs sought.
The reliefs included a declaration that the FRSC has no right to operate and/or carry any activity on state and local governments’ roads.
The trial court also issued restraining orders against the commission from operating on roads other than federal highways and also awarded a cost of N10 million against the FRSC.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr. Kunle Edun, commended both the trial and appellate courts for the proper interpretation of the law, adding that by the judgment, FRSC personnel who are on roads inside cities and towns except federal highways have no right to be there, as their operations on such roads which are mainly to extort motorists are illegal.
Edun stated that the Judgment re-emphasised the federal structure of the country because the FRSC being a federal agency should concern itself with federal roads.
In addition to finding the FRSC N10 million, the trial court imposed an injunction barring it from all roadways save federal highways.
Mr Kunle Edun, counsel for the plaintiff, praised the trial court and the appeal court for upholding the correct reading of the law.
According to him, the Court of Appeal ruling means that FRSC officers who aren’t on federal highways but are instead operating on local roads to extort motorists have no legal standing to be there.
Because the FRSC is a federal agency, Edun argued, it should only be concerned with federal roads, and the Judgment reaffirms this.
